Continuous winding of yarns

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for automatically supplying empty bobbins to a windup position and for carrying a woundup bobbin to a discharge position. The apparatus comprises a rotatable cage having a plurality of bobbin-receiving means and which cage is indexed so as to carry a bobbin from one position or station to yarnwinding-up position and thence to the discharge position. Conveniently the apparatus consists of a series of cages mounted for rotation on a common shaft.

United States Patent inventor James Brock Pontypool, England Appl. No. 754,779 Filed Aug. 23, 1968 Patented Feb. 2, 1971 Assignee Imperial Chemical Industries Limited Priority Sept. 5, 1967 Great Britain 40,456/67 CONTINUOUS WINDING OF YARNS 5 Claims, 1 Drawing Fig.

US. Cl Int. Cl

Field of Search 242/l8, B65h 54 42, B65h 67/04 242/1 8, 18.DD

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,976,683 10/1934 Powers et a1 242/18 2,785,867 3/1957 Gallagher 242/18 2,964,827 12/1960 Lindstrom et al.... 242/18X 3,090,570 5/1963 Cunningham et a1 242/18 Primary Examiner-John Petrakes Att0rny-Cushman, Darby & Cushrnan ABSTRACT: Apparatus for automatically supplying empty bobbins to a windup position and for carrying a woundup bobbin to a discharge position. The apparatus comprises a rotatable cage having a plurality of bobbin-receiving means and which cage is indexed so as to carry a bobbin from one position or station to yarn-winding-up position and thence to the discharge position. Conveniently the apparatus consists of a series of cages mounted for rotation on a common shaft.

PATENTED FEB 21% I nvenlor R, 8% s m CONTINUOUS WINDING OF YARNS The invention concerns improvements in or relating to the continuous winding of yarns.

Processes and apparatus for continuously winding yarns. as for instance synthetic filament yarns as produced on an extrusion machine. are known in which yarn is automatically transferred for winding on an empty bobbin once a package of yarn of the desired dimensions has been wound on a first bobbin.

ln such known processes and apparatus arrangements can be made to bring the empty bobbin into contact with a single driving roll which is also driving the first bobbin by surface contact with the yarn wound thereon.

For ease of loading and removal of bobbins. it is also known to employ a rotatable bobbin-carrying table having three positions. the first being an empty bobbin-loading position, the second being a bobbin-winding position and the third being a bobbin-removal position In such known processes and apparatus, it is provided that the rotatable bobbin-carrying table shall be bodily moveable away from the bobbin-driving roll in order to take account of the buildup of yarn in the package of the bobbin which is in the winding position Whilst such an arrangement reflects accurately and effectively the requirement for package growth. it means that there is no possibility of providing a simple mechanism for controlling the movement of a number of said bobbin-carrying tables along the length of a machine. such as an extrusion machine as aforesaid.

An object of this invention, therefore. is the provision of apparatus for enabling the continuous winding of yarns to take place at each of a plurality of positions along a machine, which apparatus provides the capability of unified bobbin rotation means.

A further object is the provision of such apparatus having magazine-loading means. to ensure the continuity of operation especially when winding small packages of yarn or larger packages at very high rates According to the invention apparatus for continuously supplying at each of a plurality of stations a bobbin to a yarnwinding position and removing from the position such bobbin when a determined supply of yarn has been wound thereon comprises at each station a drive roll, yarn traverse means for traversing yarn axially of a bobbin at such station. a bobbincarrying cage mounted so as to rotate about an axis parallel to the axis of the drive roll. a plurality of bobbin-carrying means equidistantly spaced around and pivotally mounted on said cage resilient means urging said bobbin-carrying means into a position such that when one of such means is adjacent the drive roll a bobbin carried thereby is urged into driving contact therewith and an arrangement for rotating the cage in a stepwise manner to carry a bobbin received from the bobbinsupply means to the drive roll.

Preferably, said rotatable bobbin-carrying cage has 4 positions of rotation, at the first one of which an empty bobbin is loaded from a magazine therefor into one pair of bobbin-carrying arms, at the second one of which the empty bobbin is spun up to driving speed by means such as an auxiliary drive roll itself driven by a belt drive from the shaft of the (main) drive roll, at the third one of which the empty bobbin is brought into, and maintained in, contact with the drive roll whilst a yarn package is wound up thereon, and at the fourth one of which the bobbin with fully wound yarn package thereon is allowed to rotate before finally coming to rest.

At each indexing of the cage. a fully wound bobbin is ejected from the bobbin-carrying arms at the said fourth position, and a new empty bobbin is supplied from the magazine into the arms at the said first position.

Hence. as the indexing of the cage can be carried out automatically, e.g. according to a time programme, the winding at any one position or at all of a plurality of positions so indexed along a machine, can be carried out continuously, with the only personal attention being that necessary to keep the supply of empty bobbins in the magazine or magazines adequate and to remove the fully wound bobbins as may be convenient.

As alluded to above. it IS possible according to the invention to "programme the transfer of winding from one bobbin to another simultaneously at each of a number of positions along a machine. such as an extrusion machine This is possible because. not only are the drive roll and the traverse guide bar common to all such positions. now it is possible to provide common indexing" means for all of the rotatable. bobbincarrying cages as such cages rotate about a fixed axis. rather than one. as in the prior art. which moves relative to the drive roll according to the amount of yarn wound in a package on the windup bobbin.

The amount of yarn that can be wound on a bobbin according to the invention is dependent on the extent of pivoting movement allowable to the bobbin-carrying arms in any given construction of cage. The extent of such movement will limit the depth of the yarn packages that can be wound. However. in certain instances this limitation will not be very significant, as where the bobbins will themselves be used as the supply packages for machines, such as knitting machines. where the creels are not ordinarily designed to carry very large packages. One such instance is that of extruding spandex filaments. which filaments. upon winding up into, say 1 pound 2 pound packages. are ready directly for use in knitting. Indeed the small size desired for such yarn packages is one cogent reason for the continuous winding of the yarns. as is most advantageously carried out by the invention.

Although the indexing of the apparatus. including the correlation of movements of the rotatable bobbin-carrying cage with the auxiliary thread-guide means. has been described above as occurring automatically and preferably according to a programme, it is, of course, possible according to the invention to index the cage by hand when a transfer is required, and to effect movement of the auxiliary thread-guide either by linkage with such hand movement or independently by hand also.

lf the auxiliary thread-guide means is adapted for automatic operation. this may conveniently be effected by pneumatic means; and all these thread-guides along a machine may be moved together in unison in the manner required for the yarn transfer at all the positions.

The word "bobbin" has only been used for convenience in this specification to describe any solid carrier on which yarn can be wound. Normally. such bobbin on a spinning machine will consist of a core portion. or chuck. comprising a cylindrical surface integral with an axial shaft on which core a cylindrical carrier for the yarn is releasably mounted.

The ends of the axial shaft of such a bobbin can readily be held in slots in the ends of the bobbin-carrying arms of the cage; and the bobbins will be accepted in the first position. and rejected on moving from the fourth position, quite readily from those arms when these extend away from their pivot points in the direction of rotation of the cage.

It is preferred, as stated above. to utilize a cage with at least four positions, rather than only three, which latter is nevertheless within the scope of the invention. When only three positions are provided. it will be necessary to forego the ability to rotate the empty bobbin up to driving speed before it comes into contact with the drive roll, and to arrange that winding does not start on it until it has been spun up to speed by the drive roll.

In order that the nature of the present invention may become more clear there will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing one convenient apparatus embodying the salient features thereof.

Such drawing shows in side elevation said convenient apparatus.

The apparatus comprises a number of like winding-up stations positioned side-by-side transversely of the machine and only one such station need be described. As shown in the drawing, a bobbin drive-roll l is mounted for rotation on a transversely extending shaft 3 and positioned slightly above the shaft is a yarn traverse guide 5 which is mounted on a second shaft 7 for reciprocating movement in a direction parallel to the axis of the shaft 3.

Mounted on a frame 9 is a further horizontal shaft 11 which carries an indexing cage 13 This cage comprises two circular plates to each of which is pivotally mounted a bobbin-carrying arm 15. 15 15 and 15*. the arms are spring-loaded so as normally to abut against an outer stop 17. 17 17" and 17" respectively. It will be apparent from the drawings. that the four sets of bobbin-carrying arms are spaced apart 90 from each other equally around the cage 13. Means (not shown) is provided for moving the cage stepwise through angles of 90 according to a predetermined time sequence depending upon the time taken to wind up sufficient yarn on an empty bobbin to give a yarn package of desired size or weight.

A magazine 19 is located adjacent one set of arms 15 when in a restposition (the right-hand position as shown in the drawing) The magazine is adapted to receive empty bobbins 21 and its sidewalls are provided with suitably shaped slots 23 into which the end portions of axial shafts of the bobbins are received. Spaced 90 in a counterclockwise direction from the magazine 19 is a drive-roll 24 mounted on a shaft driven by a belt 25 via a pulley (not shown) on the shaft 3. Continuing around the cage in a counterclockwise direction is the actual winding-up station comprising the traverse guide and driveroll 1 and 90 beyond this position is a tray 27 which as will become clear hereinafter receive fully wound yarn packages.

The outer end portions of the bobbin-carrying arms are located adjacent slots in the cage 13 so that the axial shafts of the bobbins pass therein. To ensure retention of bobbins in the arms 15 as they are moved sequentially around the apparatus there is provided an arcuate-shaped shroud 29.

Mounted on the shroud 29 at a position just above the traverse-guide 5 is a pair of brackets 31 carrying a horizontally mounted rod 33 on which is secured an auxiliary thread-guide means 35.

For use in the apparatus, bobbins of special nature are provided. namely ones with one end portion thereof provided with a roughened surface.

In the use of the apparatus, empty bobbins are loaded in the magazine 19 and the leading bobbin will fall automatically into the set of arms 15 located adjacent thereto. The cage 13 is then automatically indexed through 90 so as to bring the surface of the bobbin into frictional contact with the auxiliary drive roll 24 thereby causing rotation of the same. After a determined time sequence the cage will again be indexed through 90 to bring the now rotating empty bobbin into friction-driving contact with the main drive roll 1. Yarn which passes from the auxiliary thread-guide means 35 to the traverse guide 5 will then be wound up on the bobbin.

As the yarn-package grows in diameter during winding up the arms 15 will yield against their springs and the end portions the axial shafts in the bobbins will move, without impediment, along the slots in the side plates of the cage 13.

' After a desired interval of time sufficient to allow the bob bin to become a desired fully wound package the cage will be indexed further through 90 whereupon the wound package will reach the fourth position that is the lowermost position as seen in the drawing. In this position the appropriate set of arms 15 will be in such a position that the yarn package will drop automatically therefrom on to the tray 27 to be collected therefrom by the machine operator. During this last indexing as the full bobbin travels from the windup position adjacent the traverse guide 5 to the discharge position. an empty bobbin will be travelling from the auxiliary drive-roll 24 to the windup position taking the yarn being wound up with As the empty bobbin means the windup position the auxiliary yarnguide 35 will be moved 'to cause yarn to engage the roughened portion of the bobbin. The restriction thus imposed on the length of yarn extending between the completedyarn package and the roughened portion of the empty bobbin will bring about breakage of the yarn Thereafter the auxiliary threadguide will move away from its operative position to normal position carrying the now leading end portion o'f yarn with it which can then be caught by the main yarn-traverse means which is usual self-threadin kind. :i-

It will be appreciated t at by providing a series of yarnwinding positions on a machine and having common drive shafts 11 and 3 it is possible to arrange for a single operator to service the whole of the positions along a machine.

Although the sequential indexing operation of the bobbincarrying cages takes place automatically it is possible of course for this operation to be conducted manually. Indeed, and as shown in the drawing, one outer end of the shaft 11 can be proved with a boss 37s'ecured thereto from which there are outwardly extending arms 39 which can be grasped by the operator to turn the shaft;

Iclaim:

1. Apparatus for continuously supplying at each of a plurality of side-by-side stations a bobbin to a yarn-winding position and removing from the position such bobbin when a determined supply of yarn has been wound thereon comprising at each station: a drive roll for engaging a bobbin and driving the same by surface contact; yarn traverse means for traversing yarn axially of a bobbin at such station; a bobbin-carrying cage mounted so as to rotate about an axis parallel to the axis of the. drive roll; a plurality of bobbin-carrying means equidistantly spaced around and pivotally mounted on said cage for carrying bobbins in positions in which their axes are parallelto the axis of the drive roll; resilientmeans urging said bobbin-carrying means into a position such that when one of such carrying means is adjacent the drive roll a bobbin carried by the carrying means is urged into driving contact with the drive roll; bobbin-supply means; and means for rotating the cage in a stepwise manner to carry a bobbin received from the bobbinsupply means to the drive roll, said cages and said drive rolls being carried by shafts which are common to the plurality of stages.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein there is provided a collector onto which a fully wound yarn package is automatically deposited as the package is caused to move away from the drive roll during a rotational movement of the cage.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein automatic'means is provided for severing yarn from a fully wound package during its passage away from the drive roll.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3 wherein the said cage is automatically moved in a stepwise manner to carry yarn bobbins towards and away from said drive roll.

5. Apparatus as in claim 1 wherein each station includes an auxiliary drive roll for engaging a bobbin and driving the same by surface contact, said auxiliary drive roll being disposed a location in advance of the first-mentioned drive roll with respect to the direction of rotation of the cage whereby a given bobbin is already rotating when it is brought into contact with the first-mentioned drive roll. 

1. Apparatus for continuously supplying at each of a plurality of side-by-side stations a bobbin to a yarn-winding position and removing from the position such bobbin when a determined supply of yarn has been wound thereon comprising at each station: a drive roll for engaging a bobbin and driving the same by surface contact; yarn traverse means for traversing yarn axially of a bobbin at such station; a bobbin-carrying cage mounted so as to rotate about an axis parallel to the axis of the drive roll; a plurality of bobbin-carrying means equidistantly spaced around and pivotally mounted on said cage for carrying bobbins in positions in which their axes are parallel to the axis of the drive roll; resilient means urging said bobbin-carrying means into a position such that when one of such carrying means is adjacent the drive roll a bobbin carried by the carrying means is urged into driving contact with the drive roll; bobbin-supply means; and means for rotating the cage in a stepwise manner to carry a bobbin received from the bobbin-supply means to the drive roll, said cages and said drive rolls being carried by shafts which are common to the plurality of stages.
 2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein there is provided a collector onto which a fully wound yarn package is automatically deposited as the package is caused to move away from the drive roll during a rotational movement of the cage.
 3. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein automatic means is provided for severing yarn from a fully wound package during its passage away from the drive roll.
 4. Apparatus according to claim 3 wherein the said cage is automatically moved in a stepwise manner to carry yarn bobbins towards and away from said drive roll.
 5. Apparatus as in claim 1 wherein each station includes an auxiliary drive roll for engaging a bobbin and driving the same by surface contact, said auxiliary drive roll being disposed a location in advance of the first-mentioned drive roll with respect to the direction of rotation of the cage whereby a given bobbin is already rotating when it is brought into contact with the first-mentioned drive roll. 